FIDE Online Olympiad Playoff Starts Thursday
The playoff of the FIDE Online Olympiad starts on Thursday with the preliminary round. Eight teams will be fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals as we'll see the matches China vs Ukraine, Hungary vs Germany, Bulgaria vs Poland, and Greece vs Armenia.
The games of the FIDE Online Olympiad can be found here as part of our live events platform. The playoffs will be played August 27-30, with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV starting from 1 a.m. Pacific / 10:00 a.m. Central Europe.
Hungary-Germany (winner plays Russia on Friday)
Round 1 08:00 UTC = 1 a.m. Pacific / 10:00 Central Europe
Round 2 09:15 UTC = 2:15 a.m. Pacific / 11:15Central Europe
China-Ukraine (winner plays U.S. on Friday)
Round 1, 11:00 UTC = 4 a.m. Pacific / 13:00 Central Europe / 19:00 Beijing
Round 2 12:15 UTC = 5:15 a.m. Pacific / 14:15 Central Europe / 19:00 Beijing
Greece-Armenia (winner plays India on Friday)
Round 1, 14:00 UTC = 7 a.m. Pacific / 16:00 Central Europe
Round 2 15:15 UTC = 8:15 a.m. Pacific / 17:15 Central Europe
Bulgaria-Poland (winner plays Azerbaijan on Friday)
Round 1 17:00 UTC = 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe
Round 2 18:15 UTC = 11:15 a.m. Pacific / 20:15 Central Europe
Below we cover the Top Division's third and final day when rounds seven to nine were played in each pool. The top three teams in each pool have qualified for the playoffs.
- Pool A: India, China, Germany
- Pool B: Azerbaijan, Hungary, Ukraine
- Pool C: Russia, Bulgaria, Armenia
- Pool D: U.S., Greece, Poland
Pool A: India, China, Germany
On Saturday, both GMs Humpy Koneru and Vidit Gujrathi lost their games due to a disconnection in the match against Mongolia. It was all the more impressive that India managed to finish ahead of China in Pool A the next day, by beating them in the direct encounter between the two Asian powerhouses.
That was very significant since the winners of each pool qualify directly for the quarterfinals (starting on Friday), while the numbers two and three will first need to play a preliminary round on Thursday.
The China-India match took place in the final round, with four draws on the top boards and two Indian junior players both winning their games: GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu vs. GM Liu Yan and WIM Divya Deshmukh vs. Zhu Jiner.
Here's Praggnanandhaa win:
Congratulations and well done. https://t.co/gK3DVtEvrQ
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) August 23, 2020
A tweet from FIDE was retweeted by India's Minister of Finance.
As expected, Germany came in third, but that happened despite collapsing in the last two rounds, where they lost to India and Uzbekistan. They still finished two points ahead of Iran.
Top Division, Pool A | Final Standings
| Rk. | Fed | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | India | 4 | 4½ | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4½ | 5½ | 4 | 6 | 17 | 39.5 | ||
| 2 | China | 2 | 4½ | 4 | 3½ | 5 | 4½ | 5 | 4½ | 6 | 16 | 39.0 | ||
| 3 | Germany | 1½ | 1½ | 3½ | 4½ | 3 | 3½ | 1½ | 3½ | 6 | 11 | 28.5 | ||
| 4 | Iran | 2 | 2 | 2½ | 2½ | 3½ | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5½ | 9 | 30.0 | ||
| 5 | Mongolia | 3 | 2½ | 1½ | 3½ | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 27.5 | ||
| 6 | Georgia | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2½ | 3 | 4 | 4½ | 2 | 5½ | 8 | 27.5 | ||
| 7 | Indonesia | 1½ | 1½ | 2½ | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3½ | 6 | 8 | 27.0 | ||
| 8 | Uzbekistan | ½ | 1 | 4½ | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 3 | 3½ | 5½ | 7 | 22.5 | ||
| 9 | Vietnam | 2 | 1½ | 2½ | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2½ | 2½ | 6 | 6 | 27.0 | ||
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
Pool B: Azerbaijan, Hungary, Ukraine
Azerbaijan had dropped from first to fifth place on Saturday, but with three wins on Sunday the team finished in first place after all to become the second team to reach the quarterfinals.
With seven teams still in contention after round six, it's no surprise that board points had to decide which teams came in second and third. Hungary and Ukraine are through, while Kazakhstan just missed out.
A big clash in this group was Azerbaijan-Spain. GM Alexei Shirov did great over the weekend, scoring 13/15, but lost to GM Rauf Mamedov in this match. The Azerbaijani showed a well-known technique in rook endings with one extra pawn on the seventh.
Top Division, Pool B | Final Standings
| Rk. | Fed | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | Azerbaijan | 5 | 2½ | 2½ | 4 | 3½ | 5 | 3½ | 5½ | 5½ | 14 | 37.0 | ||
| 2 | Hungary | 1 | 4 | 3½ | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3½ | 4 | 6 | 14 | 32.0 | ||
| 3 | Ukraine | 3½ | 2 | 2½ | 3 | 4½ | 5½ | 5½ | 5 | 4 | 13 | 35.5 | ||
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 3½ | 2½ | 3½ | 2½ | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 34.0 | ||
| 5 | Spain | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3½ | 3½ | 2½ | 4½ | 4½ | 6 | 13 | 33.5 | ||
| 6 | Netherlands | 2½ | 2 | 1½ | 3 | 2½ | 4 | 4½ | 3½ | 5½ | 9 | 29.0 | ||
| 7 | Slovakia | 1 | 2 | ½ | 2 | 3½ | 2 | 4½ | 4½ | 3½ | 8 | 23.5 | ||
| 8 | France | 2½ | 2½ | ½ | 0 | 1½ | 1½ | 1½ | 4 | 6 | 4 | 20.0 | ||
| 9 | Norway | ½ | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 2½ | 1½ | 2 | 4 | 2 | 17.0 | ||
| 10 | South Africa | ½ | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 2½ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.5 |
Pool C: Russia, Bulgaria, Armenia
Russia is the only team that won all of its matches this weekend. It finished on the maximum 18 match points and cruised to the quarterfinals.
Bulgaria did extremely well, finishing in second place as the seventh seed. Armenia barely made it after losing to both England and Russia on the final day. A 5-1 sweep against Egypt made the difference on board points with Romania.
Here's GM Ian Nepomniachtchi's first win of the day against Egypt's Bassem Amin:
Top Division, Pool C | Final Standings
| Rk. | Fed | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | Russia | 4½ | 3½ | 4½ | 3½ | 5 | 5½ | 5 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 43.5 | ||
| 2 | Bulgaria | 1½ | 3½ | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5½ | 6 | 13 | 34.5 | ||
| 3 | Armenia | 2½ | 2½ | 4 | 4½ | 2½ | 4½ | 5 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 37.5 | ||
| 4 | Romania | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 5½ | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5½ | 12 | 33.0 | ||
| 5 | Croatia | 2½ | 3 | 1½ | ½ | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 33.5 | ||
| 6 | England | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 2½ | 1 | 3½ | 3½ | 4½ | 4½ | 10 | 25.0 | ||
| 7 | Turkey | ½ | 3 | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 2½ | 5 | 4½ | 4½ | 7 | 25.5 | ||
| 8 | Egypt | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2½ | 1 | 5 | 4½ | 5 | 21.0 | ||
| 9 | Morocco | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 1½ | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9.5 | ||
| 10 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1½ | 1½ | ½ | 2 | 0 | 6.0 |
Pool D: U.S., Greece, Poland
Winning its first six matches, the U.S. could hardly escape qualification, but the last day was a struggle. The team started with a loss to Poland and then played 3-3 against Peru before finishing with a 5.5-0.5 win against Canada.
With lighter pairings, Greece finished with three wins and ended on the same number of match points as the U.S. while Poland came in third. Their top board, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, was the only player to beat GM Wesley So this weekend with a nice, long-term sacrifice:
Top Division, Pool D | Final Standings
| Rk. | Fed | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | U.S. | 5 | 2½ | 3 | 5 | 5½ | 5 | 5 | 4½ | 4 | 15 | 39.5 | ||
| 2 | Greece | 1 | 3½ | 3½ | 5 | 4½ | 4 | 3 | 3½ | 4 | 15 | 32.0 | ||
| 3 | Poland | 3½ | 2½ | 3½ | 2½ | 5 | 3 | 3½ | 5½ | 4 | 13 | 33.0 | ||
| 4 | Peru | 3 | 2½ | 2½ | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 32.5 | ||
| 5 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 2½ | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4½ | 6 | 10 | 29.5 | ||
| 6 | Canada | ½ | 1½ | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 21.5 | ||
| 7 | Brazil | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2½ | 4½ | 1 | 4½ | 5 | 21.5 | ||
| 8 | Argentina | 1 | 3 | 2½ | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | 3 | 5 | 21.5 | ||
| 9 | Cuba | 1½ | 2½ | ½ | 0 | 1½ | 2 | 5 | 4½ | 3 | 5 | 20.5 | ||
| 10 | Paraguay | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 18.5 |
The playoffs start on Thursday with the preliminary round, where teams that finished in second or third meet each other for a spot in the quarterfinals. The four pool winners are already in:
The FIDE Online Olympiad is a major online chess event for national teams that runs July 25-August 30 on the Chess.com server. More than 1,500 participants and 163 teams from all over the world are playing.
Each team consists of six players, including at least two women, at least one player who is 20 or younger, and at least one female player who is 20 or younger. The time control for all matches is 15 minutes for the game and a five-second increment per move, starting from move one.
Related articles:
- FIDE Online Chess Olympiad (info article)
- FIDE Online Olympiad Launches July 25 On Chess.com
- FIDE Online Olympiad: Base Division's Results
- Hong Kong, Angola Perfect, Eid Brilliant In Olympiad Division 4
- GM Zaibi Plays Brilliant Checkmate In Olympiad Division 3
- Shirov On Fire As Online Olympiad Gets Set For Top Division
- Azerbaijan, India, Russia, U.S. Pool Leaders At Online Olympiad
- Crunch Time For Online Olympiad's Top Division
- FIDE Online Olympiad: Who Made It To The Playoffs?
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
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